Acculturation Rating Scale (ARS)
Montgomery‚ 1992
Items 1–3: 1 = Mexican/Medicano; 2 = Chicano; 3 =Mexican American; 4 = Spanish‚ Hispanic‚ Latin American‚ American; 5 =Anglo American/other
1. Which ethnic identification does (did) your mother use?2. Which ethnic identification does (did) your father use?3. How do you identify yourself?
Item 4: 1 = Almost exclusively Mexicans‚ Chicanos‚Mexican Americans; 2 = Mostly Mexicans‚ Chicanos‚ Mexican Americans; 3=About equally Mexicans‚ Chicanos‚ Mexican Americans‚ and Anglos or other ethnic groups; 4 = Mostly Anglos‚ Blacks‚ or other ethnic groups; 5 =Almost exclusively Anglos‚ Blacks‚ or ethnic groups.
4. What has been (or was) the ethnic origin of your friends from ages 6 to 18?
Items 5–10: 1 = Very Uncomfortable; 2 = A Little Uncomfortable; 3 = Comfortable; 4 = Mostly Comfortable; 5 = Very Comfortable
5. How comfortable do you feel speaking Spanish at home? (R)6. How comfortable do you feel speaking Spanish with friends‚ such as during free time at school? (R)7. How comfortable do you feel thinking in Spanish? (R)8. How comfortable do you feel speaking English at home?9. How comfortable do you feel speaking English with friends‚ such as during free time at school?10.How comfortable do you feel thinking in English?
Items 11–24: 1 = Not at all; 2 = Very little; 3 = A little; 4=A lot; 5 = Very much How much do you enjoy:
11.listening to Spanish music? (R)12.watching TV programs in Spanish? (R)13.watching Spanish language movies? (R)14.celebrating holidays according to Mexican tradition? (R)15.reading books/magazines in Spanish? (R)16.eating Mexican food? (R)17.traveling and visiting in Mexico? (R)18.listening to English music?19.watching TV programs in English?20.watching English language movies?21.celebrating holidays according to Anglo-American tradition?22.reading books/magazines in English?23.eating Anglo-American food?24.traveling and visiting in the United States?
Items 25–28: 1 = Almost exclusively Mexicans‚ Chicanos‚ Mexican Americans; 2 = Mostly Mexicans‚ Chicanos‚ Mexican Americans; 3 = About equally Mexicans‚ Chicanos‚ Mexican Americans‚ and Anglos or other ethnic groups; 4 = Mostly Anglos‚ Blacks‚ or other ethnic groups; 5 = Almost exclusively Anglos‚ Blacks‚ or ethnic groups.
Sometimes life is not as we really want it. If you could have your way‚ how would you like the following aspects of your life to be?
25.How would you like the ethnic identify of your friends to be?
26.How would you like your father’s ethnic identify to be?
27.How would you like your mother’s ethnic identity to be?
28.How would you like your own ethnic identity to be?
The alpha coefficient for the total scale score was .94. The alpha coefficients for the 5-factor subscales were .92‚ .86‚ .92‚ .90‚ and .92‚ respectively
(1) comfort with Spanish language and Mexican traditions and comfort with thinking and speaking Spanish (10 items: 5‚ 6‚ 7‚ 11‚ 12‚ 13‚ 14‚ 15‚ 16‚ 17); (2) comfort with English language and Anglo-American tradition (7 items: 18‚ 19‚ 20‚ 21‚ 22‚ 23 24; (3) one’s preference for ethnic identity (5 items: 4‚ 25‚ 26‚ 27‚ 28); (4) self-rated ethnic identity (4 items: 1‚ 2‚ 3‚ and an item about generation in United States not on the scale)‚ and (5) comfort with speaking English (3 items: 8‚ 9‚ 10).
(R) Reverse coded items
This instrument can be found at: http://www.springer.com/978-1-4419-6696-4
Montgomery‚ G. T. (1992). Comfort with acculturation status among students from south Texas. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences‚ 14‚ 201–223.
Davis LE and Engel RJ. Measuring Race and Ethnicity. New York‚ NY: Springer 2011.